Working from Home Expenses: Employment Expenses

Posted on March 12th, 2024 in Domestic Tax

Photo of women in orange shirt sitting at a desk taking notes. There is a laptop on the desk.

The $2/day flat rate method available to claim expenses for employees working from home was a temporary administrative measure only available from 2020 to 2022; it is no longer available in 2023. As such, employees working from home can only use the detailed calculation when claiming expenses.

For 2023 and subsequent years, a deduction can only be claimed where one of the following criteria is met:

the work space was the place where the individual principally (more than 50% of the time) performed their duties of employment; or
the individual used the space exclusively during the period to earn employment income and used it on a regular and continuous basis for meeting clients, customers, or other people with respect to employment.

CRA indicated that they would consider i) to be met by employees who were required to work from home more than 50% of the time for a period of at least four consecutive weeks in the year.

ACTION ITEM: The $2/day temporary flat rate method cannot be used by employees to claim home office expenses in 2023. Instead, receipts and records must be kept to make claims under the detailed method.

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Article originally published in: Tax Tips & Traps 2024 First Quarter – Issue 145.